Clothes washer



.Nov. 3, 1942. N. H. HENbERsoN cL 'mEs WASHER Original Filed April 15; 1939 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR.

Nov. 3, 1942.

N. H. HENDERSON CLOTHES WASHER '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 13, 1939 m T m V W.

Patented Nov. 3, 1942 i UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE CLOTHES WASHER Nelson H. Henderson, Syracuse, N. Y.

Original application April 1 3, 1939, Serial No.

267,575. Divided and this application October 15, 1940, Serial No. 361,324

12 Claims.- (01. 68-23) This invention relates to clothes washing machines and is a division of my pending application Serial No. 267,575 and pertains in particular to the system of planetary gearing described therein which transmits alternately to one driven member an oscillating motion and to a second driven member a rotary motion.

When this mechanism is applied to a clothes washing machine, the oscillating member can be an agitator located concentrically within a tub and the tub itself can be the rotary memher, the first, acting to wash the clothes and the second to dry them by centrifugal action.

When the tub is rotatedfor drying the agitator takes on the same speed as the tub.

The change from one motion to the other is made to take place gradually and also the centrifugal force acting uncertain parts of the planetary gear unit is used to help pick up the spinning load as the speed increases. Thus it helps the friction drive to carry the spinning load by acting as a centrifugal clutch. I This 1 feature allows the change from washing to drying conditions to be made by one operation.-

The nature of this invention, together with the objects thereof, and the advantages to be derived therefrom; particularly when applied to a clothes washer, will appear in the course of the following description of a preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the drawings forming part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a vertical section'of the washing machine cabinet-on line l-| of Figure 2 showing the inside parts in elevation.

1 Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 showing a top view of the gear case. I

Figure 3 is a section on a larger scale of the gear case as taken on line 3--3 of Figure 4 and with the cover of the inside or planetary gear erably made of sheet metal and which supports flat springs 2 which in turn support the gea case 3 from which-depends a motor 4.

A rectangular cabinet 5 is also supported from the base and has a cover 6 on'the top through which the clothes are placed and removed. The tub is indicated at .l.

Near the bottom and below the tub is a partition 8 having a hole ii at the center and designed to receive overflow from the tub. The

tub 1 preferably has sloping sides so that when 55 After the washing is completed the rod 3| is it spins the water will rise and discharge through openings 9 against the inside of the cabinet wall from whence it falls into the pocket formed by the partition 8 and then flowsinto the pump inlet Ill. The pump is indicated at H.

The outlet l2 of the pump can be arranged to deliver the waste water into a sink or to some other waste connection.

The agitator I3 is similar to others well known .is arranged, to impart oscillations to the center post 20 which in turn'drives the agitator l3 for washing. a

The. cover 55 of the gear case 3 has an upstanding hub 56 which forms a bearing for the tubular shaft 44 and through which the latter is adapted to rotate and move axially.

The planetary support l8 supports the tub by means of hollow shaft ll and is in-turn supported first, while spinning, by the spiral gear 2| as shown in Fig. 4 and second, while stationary, by the brake ring 22. The shaft 23 is driven from the motor 4 through a belt to operate spiral gear 24 which meshes with spiral gear 2| which in turn carries a pinion 25. The pinion 25 meshes with the idler gear 26 which carries as part of itself the pinion 21 which in turn meshes with and operates gear 28. This latter gear connects with segment I! through the connecting rod 29. The segment I! meshes with the pinion 42 which is fastened to the center post 20 which drives agitator I3. The brake ring 22 extends all the way around beneath the planetary support I8 and rides, in a circular path, upon three or more inclined supports 30, one only being shown, and this brake ring is actuated by some member, such as. red 2| acting to rotate it through an arc to give an axial movement and thus bring it into or out of contact with support I8. The inclined support. is indicated at 10.

When the brake ring 22' is in its highest position the planetary support II is raised and held stationary some distance away from the .face of spiral gear 2| which gear retains its lowest positionbecause of pressure of spring ll.

This is the condition of the mechanism while the washing operation is taking place. The motor operates to drive the agitator and the tub itself is stationary.

actuated by the operator to rotate the brake ring 22 into its lowest position allowing the planetary support 18 to bear directly upon the top surface of revolving spiral gear 2| as shown in Fig. 4. By friction the planetary support i8 now begins to revolve slowly turning hollow shaft 44 and tub I which,- due to centrifugal force, begins to discharge the wash water through openings 5.

As the tub becomes lighter the speed increases and the connecting rod 2% together with other oscillating parts in the gear case tend, due to centrifugal action, to hold themselves in their outermost positions. As the speed increases this.

centrifugal force becomes greater and greater until at last the oscillations cease entirely and the agitator i3 is driven at the same speed as the tub itself which in this case is about 600 R. P. M. Near the mid point of the connecting rod 29 is shown an .enlargement which is a weight that when acted upon by centrifugal force is, as the gear train and planetary gear support revolve, thrown as far as possible from the center of rotation. As the speed increases due to friction between the sun or spiral gear 2!! and the planetary gear support i8 which is resting directly upon it, this centrifugal force is finally great enough to prevent these oscillating parts'from returning to their innermost positions and the oscillation of the agitator i3 ceases altogether.

At this point the tub takes on the same speed as the spiral gear 23. Since the idler gear 26 cannot rotate with relation to the support it it becomes simply an arm attached to the gear 25 and moves about it at the same speed as the support it.

To rinse the clothes, fresh water may be turned in while the tub is spinning; in which case the water is driven through the clothes by centrifugal action. Again the tub may be stopped and the clothes rinsed by action of the agitator.

Many uses of this device may he found beside that of washing clothes and i do not restrict the patent to the specific showing and description here made.

What I claim is:

1. Driving mechanism comprising in combination a rotary driving member, two concentric driven members, one forming an extended hearing for the other, and mechanism including an oscillatory device and means for oscillating the iatter actuated by said driving member for imparting oscillations to one of said driven members, mechanism tending at all times to transmit rotary motion to the other driven member and means operable to render said last mentioned mechanism inoperative including a friction brake and to permit said first mechanism to transmit oscillations to said one of said driven members. 2. Driving mechanism of the character described consisting of a driving spiral gear mounted. in a gear case adjacent a turnably mounted element, frictionally engaging parts between the turnably mounted element and the gear case, frictionally engaging parts between the spiral gear and the turnably mounted element, the first mentioned frictionally engaging part manuallycontrolled and acting to separate the spiral gear and the second mentioned frictionally engaging part.

3. Apparatus oi. the character described comprising in combination, a gear case, driving means mounted in the gear case, a turnably mounted element axially movable, means for shifting the latter axially, within the gear case,

a gear train within the turnably mounted element, frictional means and also positive means actuated by centrifugal force acting on parts of the gear train offset from the center of rotation of the turnable element, bothsaid means actchine, in combination, a planetary gear mechanism including a driven spiral gear, an axially movable planetary support, a container attached to said support, an oscillatory agitator located within said container and co-axial therewith, an upright post connected to the agitator and journaled in said support coaxially with said agitator, a gear on the post, and means in mesh with the gear for selectively oscillating the post or for rotating both the agitator and container, said means depending on an axial movement of said support for preventing the container from rotating while permitting the agitator to oscillate.

5.'Washing mechanism including two concentric shafts, one-carrying a receptacle and the other an agitator within the receptacle, one rotary and the other oscillatory, a planetary support, driven mechanism including a gear train carried by the latter and connected with said shafts for driving the latter, braking mechanism, and means for moving the planetary support in and out of frictional engagement with one of the gears of said driven mechanism.

6. Driving mechanism including two concentric shafts, one rotary and the other oscillatory, a gear case into which one end of said shafts extends, an axially movable planetary support within the gear case and constructed and arranged to move with one of said shafts, driven mechanism including intermeshed gearing carried by the planetary support, one of the gears keyed to one of said shafts and the other gears carried by the planetary support, a spiral gear concentric with the shaft, braking mechanism for moving the planetary support in and out of engagement with the spiral gear.

7. Washing mechanism including two concentric shafts, one rotary and the other oscillatory, a planetary support, driven mechanism includ ing a gear train carried by the latter and con-= nected with said shafts for driving the latter. braking mechanism, means for moving the plan= etary support in and out of frictional engage ment with one of the gears of said driven mech anism, a tub carried by the rotary shaft and agitator located within the tub and carried hy the oscillatory shaft.

8. Driving mechanism including two concentric shafts, one rotary and the other oscillatory, a gear case into which one end of said shafts extends, an axially movable planetary support within the gear case and constructed and arranged to move with one of said shafts, a spiral gear carrying a pinion, a train of gears actuated by said pinion, said train of gears housed by the planetary support, a pinion secured to one of the shafts, a segment geared to said pinion, a weighted connecting rod extending from said segment to one of the gears of the train of gears whereby to move the segment by centrifugal force, and brake means for moving the planetary support in and out of engagement with the spiral gear.

9. Driving mechanism including two concentric shafts, one rotary and the other oscillatory,

a gear case into which one end of said shafts extends, an axially movable planetary support within the gear case and constructed and arranged to move with one of said shafts, a spiral gear carrying, a pinion, a train of gears actuated by said pinion, said train of gears housed by the planetary support, a pinion secured to one of the shafts, a segment geared to said constituted by a brake ring rotatably supported within the casing in a position adjacent to the planetary support, and means for turning and moving the brake ring toward and away from the planetary support.

10. In a clothes washer, a rotatably mounted tub for holding washing fluid, a concentric agitator mounted therein, concentric shafts to one of which the tub is secured, the concentric agitator mounted upon the other shaft, both shafts t-erminatingin a driven mechanism, a planetary support within which said mechanism is housed, a gear case, a circular brake ring located within the latter adjacent to the planetary support, means for transmitting axial movement to the brake ring, a driving spiral gear,'frictional parts between the spiral gear and the planetary support, and means for rotating the brake ring to bring said parts into frictional contact due to the axial movement of the support.

11. In a clothes washer, a tub for holding the washing fluid, said tub rotatably mounted on a hollow shaft, a concentric agitator mounted upon a shaft, a gear-case, both sha'fts terminating in a. driven mechanism enclosed in a planetary support, the latter being movable axially, a. train of gears housed in said support, a circular brake-ring located between the bottom of the gear case and support, and means for rotating the brake-ring to produce axial movement of the support by creating frictional contact between the brake and support.

12. Driving mechanism including a gear case, two driven and a driving member, a planetary mechanism characterized by three concentrically mounted gears, one of which is secured to one of the driven members, and one of which is a spiral gear directly actuated by the driving member, a planetary support for the planetary mechanism, transmission gears located therein, deriving their motion from one of the concentric gears, an oscillatory segment mounted on the support and having teeth meshed-with the gear on one of the driven members, a connecting means extending from the segment to a crank-.

pin on one of the transmission gears, and a brake in position to move the planetary support into or out of frictional contact with the spiral gear.

a planetary gear support rotatable and axially movable therein, a tubular shaft extending from the support through a bearing in the top of the gear case, a center post extending through the tubular shaft, a gear'secured to said center post, a driving gear, a spiral gear driven thereby,'a chain of'transmission gears actuated by the spiral gear, means including a toothed segment mounted to oscillate on the gear support with its teeth geared to the gear on the center post,

13. Driving mechanism including a gear case, 

